Archives: April 2018

Shuttlecork, Derby Day, and more: KC’s food and drink events for April 30 – May 6

April Fleming,

Monday, April 30Rye on the Plaza (4747 J.C. Nichols Parkway) is hosting a J. Rieger & Co.-themed cocktail dinner tonight beginning at 6:30 p.m. Master distiller Tom Nichol (the legendary distiller behind not only the Rieger brand but Tanqueray and others as well) will be on hand for the four-course meal. Seasonal dishes, including potato gnocchi with asparagus and country…
News

Is the state of Missouri really going to let a factory farm move in next to Powell Gardens? We’re about to find out.

Karen Dillon,

In 1898, the Wilkinson family settled on a farm just east of Lone Jack, Missouri. And there the family has stayed for the last 120 years. On a Tuesday afternoon in April, Jack and Carolyn Wilkinson — married 48 years — and their three children showed me around their original, certified-centennial homestead. Outside, cattle grazed quietly on pasture land. It’s a…
Savage Love

Savage Love: Quickies

Dan Savage,

Dear Dan: I wish I had a better question, but this is all I have: My friends and I were discussing the nuances of a straight orgy (a roughly equal number of male and female participants) versus a gang bang (one woman, many men), and we observed that there is no proper name for a one man, many women situation….
Music

A photoset from Wednesday night’s impressive Odesza show at Providence Medical Center Arena

April Fleming,

Odeszawith Pluko and San HoloWednesday, April 25, 2018Providence Medical Center AmpitheaterSeattle-based electronic act Odesza dazzled a hungry audience of about 5,000 Wednesday night at Providence Medical Center Ampitheater. A full drumline and horn section accompanied the duo, which was backed by a light show that was as impressive as the music was throttlingly loud. Despite cool temperatures and rain that…
Food & Drink, Restaurant Reviews

Restaurant review: Black Dirt, Jonathan Justus’ long-awaited second act, is germinating on the South Plaza

Liz Cook,

Does anything sound more frivolous than a fritter? Order one and try to stop the hard consonants from fizzing off the tip of your tongue. No other food insists so fervently on its own cuteness. Never mind that fritters, by definition, must be battered and fried — and fried foods, say the snobbiest among us, are for TGI Fridays, not…
News

Metropolitan centers like Kansas City aren’t the only places in Missouri where Trump’s election has inspired women to run for higher office

Traci Angel,

A month after the 2016 election, I wrote a Pitch story about how much Mexico, Missouri, a smallish town in the north-central part of the state, had changed since I left there as a young person. Many people back in Mexico read the piece as a direct personal attack on them. But I also received kind words from people who…

Missouri women: coming soon to a ballot near you

Traci Angel,

Hillary Shields is early, 25 minutes early to be exact.She has parked her car across from the Uptown Arts Bar and is making her way on this Thursday, early March evening that happens to be International Women’s Day. It has been less than four months since Shields narrowly lost a state senate seat to Republican Mike Cierpiot in her Lee’s Summit…
Theater

Theater review: Messy politics and infectious charm in the Spinning Tree Theatre’s Once on This Island

Liz Cook,

You’d be hard pressed to find a more efficient display of local musical theater talent than Spinning Tree Theatre’s revival of Once on This Island. The theater has staffed the 90-minute musical with an all-star team of vocalists — Angela Hagenbach, Linnaia McKenzie, Matthew A. King. And the production brims with candied melodies, head-nodding Caribbean rhythms (courtesy of percussionists John…
News

The Midwest Innocence Project looks to the next generation

Kelcie McKenney,

The statistics are staggering: between two and seven percent of all prisoners in the U.S. are innocent. That means at least 40,000 people — and as many as 155,000 people — are rotting behind bars for no reason. Ryan Ferguson (pictured above) was once among these ranks. He spent nearly ten years in prison for a murder committed in Columbia, Missouri,…

The Parkville Microbrew Festival, Comida KC, and more: KC’s food and drink events for April 23-29

April Fleming,

Monday, April 23To celebrate its 15th anniversary at 1809 Westport Road, Cupini’s is offering an “Everything is $5” special. The Italian market and restaurant insists that everything really is $5 — from cake to pasta specials — so it may prove well worth a Monday visit. The special applies to dine-in and carryout orders. Tuesday, April 24Hopcat (401 Westport Road) is…
Savage Love

Savage Love: Fists of Fury

Dan Savage,

Dear Dan: Background: I, a 21-year-old male, enjoy receptive fisting. I’ve also had constipation problems all my life. Question: I saw my doctor recently, and he tried to link my enjoyment of anal sex to my constipation. (Granted, I didn’t tell him EVERYTHING I do down there.) My understanding was that there was no causal relationship, assuming no serious injuries…
Music

How did Odesza quietly become one of the biggest live music acts of the moment? A chat with Clayton Knight ahead of Wednesday’s KC show

April Fleming,

Despite not having any mainstream hits, the Seattle-based electronic music act Odesza has quietly managed to become one of live music’s biggest draws, selling out stadiums across the country and recently closing out the final night at this year’s Coachella festival. (It performed just before Eminem.) Odesza has managed this, in part, by creating massive, cinematic, visual and auditory spectacles…
Theater

Theater review: Anna in the Tropics, at the MET

Liz Cook,

I can think of no better venue for Anna in the Tropics, Nilo Cruz’s sweltering drama about the tension between tradition and invention, than the Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre’s intimate new space in the historic Warwick Theatre. The MET’s move to 3927 Main has been a long time coming. Although its previous space (just up the street) was flexible, the theater felt…

Privacy Policy

The Pitch Privacy PolicyThe Pitch recognizes the importance of protecting the privacy of information provided to us by those who use our products and services. This policy describes how personally identifiable and anonymous information about our publication subscribers, online media product users and event registrants may be collected and shared.Please be sure to read this Privacy Policy before using any…

Terms & Conditions

The Pitch User AgreementGeneral NoticeThese are the Terms of Service for ‘The Pitch’ and for the services available through or at The Pitch (the “Services,” or a “Service”). This “Agreement” is a legal agreement between you (an individual) and The Pitch, and its suppliers and licensors concerning the operation of The Pitch and your use of any Service.The Services include…

Pondering the Souvenir with travel writer (and Kansas native) Rolf Potts

Jonathan Arlan,

Wichita native Rolf Potts has been traveling, teaching, and writing in various far-flung places for over twenty years now. His new book, Souvenir, is borne out of those adventures. It’s a fascinating, slyly eye-opening exploration of the impulse to buy things when we travel, a look at the history of buying such things, and an examination of how these things…

Novel opens in the Crossroads, plus Forks & Corks, a Ça Va patio party, and more: KC’s food and drink events for April 16-22

April Fleming,

Tuesday, April 17Cheryl Bisbee of Boozy Botanicals and Michael Crane of Crane Brewing Company are coming together at Mike’s Wine and Spirits Brookside (21 West 63rd Street) to demonstrate how to combine their two products into unique beer cocktails. There are two tasting sessions, one at 6 p.m. and one at 7:30 p.m. RSVPs are recommended; to do so, email andy@mikeskc.com or…

Photos: Turnstile, Friday night at the Bottleneck

Nick Spacek,

Turnstilewith Touche Amore, Culture Abuse, Razorbumps, and BibFriday, April 13, 2018The BottleneckFriday night, Baltimore hardcore band Turnstile came through Lawrence in support of its sophomore album and debut LP for Roadrunner, Time & Space. It’s a massively catchy blast of breakdowns and singalongs that turned the Bottleneck into a mass of mosh and stage dives. The band was ably assisted…
Music

Mackenzie Nicole’s pop debut signals a new direction for Strange Music

Nick Spacek,

“The reason I’m doing pop isn’t to be, like, some pop princess,” says Mackenzie Nicole, seated at a massive wooden conference table inside the Lee’s Summit headquarters of Strange Music. She’s confident and cheery, wearing a black leather jacket that lands somewhere between hard rock and hip hop. Technically, though, Nicole is something of a princess. As in: she’s Strange Music…